Charge setting device



Nov. 25, 1952 Filed Sept. 8, 1948 D. H. SCOTT CHARGE SETTING DEVICE l I36-1 L 32 i;

INVENTOR.

Patented Nov. 25, 1952 CHARGE SETTING DEVICE David H. Scott,Bakersfield, Calif., assi'gnor to The Texas Company, New York, N. Y., acorporation of Delaware Application September 8, 1948, Serial No. 48,222

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to charge setting devices, more particularly to adevice for setting or burying an explosive charge beneath the floor of abody of water. The principal object of the invention is to provide adevice through the use of which a hole can be formed in the floor of abody of water and an explosive charge placed in the hole, all insubstantially one operation conducted from a boat or barge and withoutthe necessity of using divers.

As is well known to those familiar with seismic exploration in watercovered areas it is desirable that the charge or shot be placed severalfeet at least, below the floor or bottom and this has usually requiredthe services of one or more divers whose work it has been to form theholes and to place the charges therein.

In accordance with the invention a device is provided which can beoperated directly from the deck of a boat and by means of which theholes will not only be dug but the charges placed in the holes withoutthe necessity of anyone going below the surface of the water. A tube orpipe is adapted to be suspended vertically in the water from the side ofthe boat and means are provided for forcing a stream of water underpressure downwardly through the pipe, the bottom of which will be heldslightly above the bottom. The lower end of the pipe is shaped so as toproduce a jet action in the water issuing therefrom and this water underits high velocity will scour or erode the formation to produce a holetherein, this hole being deepened as the pipe is lowered. During thehole making operation the explosive charge is temporarily fastened tothe pipe near its lower end and means are provided for releasing thecharge from the pipe when the hole has reached the desired depth so thatthe charge will remain buried in the hole after the pipe is removed.

For a better understanding of the invention reference may be had to theaccompanying drawing' in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical elevation partly in section of a device embodyingthe invention;

Fig. 1a is a bottom plan View of the device as shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the device in sideelevation;

Fig. 2a is a bottom plan View of the device as Referring to the drawing,a tubular member or pipe I8 is provided at its upper end with a re ducedsection l2, an elbow l4 and a swivel connection E6 to which a hose maybe attached. A suitable eyelet I8 is secured to the elbow id forreceiving a cable by means of which the pipe member can be suspended inthe Water as from the side of a boat. The lower portion 23 of the pipemember I!) is preferably flattened on one side as shown at 22 as bycutting part of the pipe it! lengthwise, removing one side and welding afiat plate over the remaining side. The lower extremity of the section23 is tapered inwardly as at 2-3 to provide a restricted opening 26.Within the upper portion of the pipe 39 is a length of smaller pipe 28,this pipe extending from the elbow Hi to the upper end of the flattenedor bed portion 28 as is shown more clearly in Fig. 2.

When a suitable hose connection is made to the swivel member 56 andwater under pressure is forced into the device, this water will passdownwardly through the inner pipe I3 then through the lower portion 20and outwardly under high velocity through the restricted opening 26.Assuming that the device is suspended so that its lower end will bepositioned slightly above the bottom the water issuing or jetting fromthe lower end of the device will erode away the earth formation so as toproduce a hole therein and as the device is lowered this hole will, ofcourse, be deepened.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 3a, an explosive charge 39 illustrated ascomprising three sections disposed end to end is temporariy secured orbound to the flat side 22 of the lower portion 29 of the device as bymeans of cords or tapes 32. A cord or cable 35 extending upwardly to thesurface has its lower end or ends secured to the tapes 32 as by means ofrings or snap fasteners 36.

The charge as will be secured to the pipe portion 29 before the deviceis placed in the water and a suitable lead wire 38 will be attached tothe cap or detonator of the charge. The wire 38 will be long enough toreach the surface of the water after the charge has been buried where itwill preferably be attached to a suitable buoy.

If desired, a length of wire or cord to shown in Figs. 3 and 3a may besecured to the charge at an intermediate point such as t2 by twistingthe wire around the charge or otherwise, and this. wire will extenddownwardly and underneath the bottom end 25 of the device and thenupwardly along the back side to be secured againt the pipe by means ofthe lower tape 32. The purpose of the wire or cord at is to prevent thecharge from slipping upwardly along the pipe portion 20. The

wire 40 also holds the lower portion of the charge firmly against thecharge bed or flat surface 22 to prevent sand or other loose materialfrom wedging in between the charge and the pipe. Were it not for theprovision of the wire 40 the sand might wedge in and cause the lower endof the charge to bend outwardly away from the bed 22 with the probableresult that a portion of the charge might break away before the burialis completed.

After the charge has been attached to the pipe member, as shown in Fig.3, the device is lowered into the water, as has been describedhereinbefore, to a position such that its lower end will be slightlyabove the bottom, The water is then forced downwardly through the deviceand a hole will be formed in the bottom as has been described. When thehole has reached a sufiicient depth the water flow through the pipe isstopped and an upward pull on the cord or cable 34 will break the tapes32 thus releasing the charge from the pipe member. The pipe can then bewithdrawn from the hole and the charge will remain buried therein, thecap or lead Wire 38 extending, as has been described, to a suitablebuoy, not shown, at the surface. When the proper electrical connectionsare subsequently made to the cap wires the charge will be exploded sothat the seismic records can be made.

Although the device has been described as made up from a piece of pipeI!) which is subsequently cut and welded or otherwise prepared toprovide the lower restricted portion 28 having the flat face or bed 22,it is understood that the device could be made in substantially onepiece by merely utilizing the pipe 28 and extending it downwardly andproviding a restricted outlet at its lower end so that a jet actionwould be produced by the water issuing therefrom at high velocity. Inthat case it would not be absolutely necessary that the fiat surface orbed 22 be provided since the charge could be secured to the outersurface of the round pipe 28.

In one of the charge setting devices of the form illustrated, which hasbeen used successfully, the over-all length of the device wasapproximately 18 feet, the length of the charge bed 22 was 10 feet, theoutside diameter of the pipe 18 was about inches and the weight of thisportion of the device was 22.2 lbs. per foot, The outside diameter ofthe inner pipe 28 was 2 inches and the weight of the entire device lessthe charge was about 350 lbs.

Although the charge has been described and illustrated as secured to thepipe portion 28 by means of tapes 32 it is to be understood that othersuitable attaching means are contemplated. Again, instead of attachingthe two lower ends of the cable 34 to the tapes 32 as shown, other meansfor breaking these tapes may be used. For example, a length of chainattached to the upper end of the restricted portion 29 can hangdownwardly through the inside of the tapes 32 and the cable 34 couldthen be attached to the bottom end of the chain. An upward pull on thecable would cause the chain to break the tapes 32 so as to ends so thatany desired number of cans can be screwed together to make a charge ofthe desired length. Using the device, an example of which is givenabove, a charge of 30 pounds and substantially 6 feet in length wasused. Larger or smaller charges can, of course, be used and attached tothe pipe as has been described.

It will be seen that in accordance with this invention a simple andeffective device has been provided by means of which a boat having but avery few operators can proceed ahead of the other boats carrying theseismic exploration party so as to set or bury several charges with aminimum of effort and time consumption. The following, or shooting boatneed then merely connect a. suitable source of electrical supply to thecap leads 38 which have been left attached to a buoy by the preceding orcharge-setting boat, in order to fire the shot.

Obviously many other modifications and-variations of the invention, ashereinbefore set forth, may be made without departing from the spiritand scope thereof, and therefore only such limitations should be imposedas are indicated in the appended claim.

I claim:

A device for setting an elongated explosive seismic charge comparativelysmall in diameter in a water-covered area comprising an elongated jetpipe, means for lowering and raising said jet pipe vertically in thewater over the point where the charge is to be set, said pipe beingsubstantially round in cross section in its upper portion and somewhatflattened in its lower portion to provide a restricted opening in itslower end, means for forcing water under pressure downwardly throughsaid pipe so that said water issuing at high velocity from therestricted end of the pipe will erode the earth and form a hole thereinas said pipe is lowered, binding means including a tape-like element fordetachably securing said charge to the xterior of the flattened portionof said pipe, and means for disrupting said binding means so that thecharge will be disengaged from the jet pipe to remain in said hole whenthe jet pipe is withdrawn, said lastnamed means comprising a cableextending downwardly from the surface and attached to said tape-likeelement and adapted to be pulled upwardly to break said element.

DAVID E. SCOTT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 7 Number Name Date 230,145 Moses July 20, 1880277,695 Edson May 15,1883 476,757 Miller June 7, 1892 494,877 Miller-Apr. 4,1893

1,222,938 Dryson Apr. 17,-1917 1,560,038 Camp -1- Nov. 3- 1925 1,753,860Hahneman Apr.= 8, 1930 2,048,677 Berteling July 28,1936

2,137,261 Boll et al Nov. 22, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date125,464 Great Britain of 1919

